So I've signed the contract...what next?

[rumbelina]

I'm selling my house and there is no chain for me or the buyer.

I've signed the contract and deed transfer form and sent them back to the solicitor.

I signed them first; once they have got to the buyer and are signed by him is that the 'exchange of contracts' or does the date for that have to be agreed by both parties? What actually happens on that date?

If you know could you tell me. I really struggle with not knowing how everything works - it goes against my control freak tendencies.

Searches first, then mortgage offer (if your buyer is lending), enquiries etc. When all that is done - exchange. :)

The instruction letter from your solicitor will probably give you more detailed information. Don't be afraid to call them to ask. :)

exchange is done by the solicitors phoning each other up and agreeing that everyone is happy with everything. Before this, your solicitor should give you a call and confirm that you are happy with the offered price, and agree a completion date (when they pay in full and you move out)

Before this you also need:

• survey complete and buyer happy with price as a result
• buyer mortgage offer ready
• buyer's deposit lodged with his solicitor
• searches done; councils can take a month at least to do this. Any resulting queries resolved.
• filled in the form saying what you are leaving

feel free to chase your solicitor as often as you like. You are paying for a service. Some solicitors are good, some do nothing unless chased. Two bank holidays coming up so get nagging.

Ahh thank you. I think pretty much everything is in place as we are aiming for a completion date of end of May, which was my preferred time.

It's useful to know what the 'exchange' is. My solicitor seems to be moving things along quickly - I don't want it to happen too fast as we need time to pack/find somewhere to rent. We can't sign a rental contract until we've exchanged so I've asked for 2 weeks between exchange and completion.

Thanks for your replies!

you can ask for longer between exchange and completion if you want - the important thing is to get exchange as that commits everyone.

ps try to avoid the Friday before a bank holiday if you are using a removal firm, that is a peak day and even if they are available they will charge a lot more.

I think two weeks will be fine, we're going to visit some properties so we have a few lined up. Thanks for the tip about the removals!!

Interestingly our removals firm had availability on the Friday before the next Bank Holiday. This surprised our EA who said that literally everybody was moving on that Friday. We're moving on the Thursday anyway :)